The day dawned overcast and fairly cold but no problems with that and I was at the track ready for sign in at 8:30. Ready for first practice at about 10am. Was feeling fairly rusty in this session but was just getting into the groove, the track was very cold and overcast conditions didn't help the cause.
The first race came around and the lights turned green. I got an appauling start and was in the last couple of the field going into the hairpin. I had a zxr400 lined up to pass under braking. Just as he started to brake (about 30m before I would have started) he moved to the right a bit and blocked the gap which I was going to duck down. I pulled on the brakes pretty hard and the rear end came up, felt like really high and I shat my pants and let go of the brake. Then my left handle bar hit the underside of his tail section and sent me off onto the grass (still probably doing 110ish). As soon as I went off I thought it was all over but I managed to keep it upright and rejoin in last. I passed a few guys and probably ended up 15th or so out of 20-25 guys. Pretty average but not too bad. Managed to drop my practice lap times from 1.56 to 1.54 so gradually improving.
The 2nd race (another 6 lapper) wasn't much of an event, they are so short on a 125 that if you don't get the start right (which is impossible for me cause I suck at them). You still finish behind probably 6 or 7 guys that you are faster than but because they are on 4 strokes they cane you into the first corner and don't have a chance of catching up. Probably finished a bit higher than in race 1 but still made a few mistakes and was still having trouble endo'ing it into some of the corners.
The third race was the best, 8 lapper. Got an alright start and managed to keep up with the other later model 125's for the first lap. Then on the 2nd lap at the kink on the back straight (fastest corner on the track), I tried to go round the outside of one of the other 125 guys. Just as I was about to pass him (for that corner I brake and change down from 4th to 3rd) he moved over and hit me pushing me wide again into the grass. I rejoined the race pretty close to last, and then got back into the groove for a lap. I could see a group of 5 or so bikes (2 125's a few 400's and an SV650) and tried to catch up. I could see as the laps went on I was catching up to them, 2nd to last lap I passed the 650 pretty easily in the infield. Then the last lap flag came out and I was about 50m behind the pack of 4 bikes going down the straight. I gradually gained and gained on them after the first corner and into the hairpin. Managed to pass one 400 round the outside on the infield sweeper and then got the power down early enough to get one of the 125's down the short infield straight. Went up the inside of another 400 at the end of there and then there was just 1 more bike ahead of me with about 5 corners left. He was the one that hit me off the track, I kept my head down and was right on his arse going into the last corner, I tried my luck up the inside but didn't have big enough balls to try and push him wide (as his lines were a bit erratic) and so I had to button off mid corner and settle for a place behind him. Kickaha timed me in that race and my last 4 laps went 1.50, 1.50, 1.49 and 1.49. So 1.48 is definately possible cause those 2 49's were whilst passing guys.
For the last race, the all in, a 9 lapper a guy with a 1998 model let me ride that. What can I say, i want one, lol. Damn its better in every single aspect than mine. The brakes, the power, the handling everything. Was slow as shit cause I was scared to drop it and the suspension is setup for his 110ish kg frame, lol. But was alot nicer to ride than my one.
So all in all my day was awesome, got gradually better and better during the day. Managed to equal my best lap time and last time I did a 1.49 my bike was in better condition, newer tyres etc, so I'm happy with that.
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Originally Posted by ben444
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